SEC Division of Corporation Finance to Add Industry Offices Focused on Crypto Assets and Industrial Applications and Services

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced plans to add an Office of Crypto Assets and an Office of Industrial Applications and Services to the Division of Corporation Finance's Disclosure Review Program (DRP). The DRP has long had offices to review company filings by issuers. The two new offices will join the seven existing offices that provide focused review of issuer filings and that are grouped by industry expertise to further the Division’s work to promote capital formation and protect investors. The DRP anticipates the new offices will be established later this fall.

"As a result of recent growth in the crypto asset and the life sciences industries, we saw a need to provide greater and more specialized support in the DRP's Office of Finance and its Office of Life Sciences," said Renee Jones, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. "The creation of these new offices will enable the DRP to enhance its focus in the areas of crypto assets, financial institutions, life sciences, and industrial applications and services and facilitate our ability to meet our mission."

Office of Crypto Assets

The Office of Crypto Assets will continue the work currently performed across the DRP to review filings involving crypto assets. Assigning companies and filings to one office will enable the DRP to better focus its resources and expertise to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.

Office of Industrial Applications and Services

The Office of Industrial Applications and Services will be responsible for the non-pharma, non-biotech, and non-medicinal products companies currently assigned to the Office of Life Sciences. In recent years, the life sciences industry has experienced significant growth, which has added to the number of filings and companies assigned to that office. Transitioning a subset of these companies to a separate group will allow the DRP staff to better build specialized expertise in this space.